ACL compiles a daily media monitoring service of stories of interest to the Christian constituency relating to children, family, drugs and alcohol, marriage, human rights, religious freedom etc. Visit the ACL’s website each day to see what’s of interest in the news. Please note that selection of the articles does not represent ACL endorsement of the content.

As the nation splurges billions of dollars a year on illicit drugs, is it time the government decriminalised some drugs and reap the tax benefits? Australians are splurging more than $7 billion a year on illicit drugs, reaping huge rewards for manufacturers and dealers. The spending, revealed by Australian Bureau of Statistics research, dwarfs the amount devoted to fighting the drug scourge and helping addicts. The amount spent was $2 billion more than Australians spent on fashion and nearly double their spending on literature.

You know an important policy debate has descended into farce when even the proponents admit they are confused. Such was the case last week when the political tug of war over education funding became little more than a sideshow about whose projections stacked up the most: Victoria's or Canberra's.

James Packer's planned casino at Sydney's Barangaroo could still go ahead, despite a surprise resort-style proposal unveiled by rival Echo. But Mr Packer would have to live with a limited gaming licence and the state government would miss a $250 million windfall. Echo, which operates Sydney's The Star casino, wants to extend its exclusive casino licence for 15 years beyond its 2019 expiry date and says it will pay the state government $250 million to make it happen.

With the Supreme Court due to rule on two cases seeking the redefinition of marriage next week, the media has been reporting widely on polls that claim a majority of Americans now support such a redefinition to include homosexual couples. The implication left by some of these stories is that a majority would therefore be happy to have the Supreme Court rule that the U.S. Constitution requires changing the definition of marriage and forbids any state from defining it as the union of a man and a woman.

More than five years of Labor in government has failed to sway voters from believing the Coalition is best able to manage the economy, foreign investment and preserve national security – by a factor of two to one. Australians do give Labor slim credit for handling ties with China – seen as the country's most important relationship – but overwhelmingly believe the Coalition can better maintain links with Washington.

The Age newspaper in Melbourne has called on Julia Gillard to resign from the prime ministership before the September 14 election and accept she has failed as leader. The editorial said she must step down now in the interests of her party, the nation and for democracy.

Young Australians are turning away from democracy, just as Canberra politics appears to be turning inside, and away from the public. It has been apparent for several years that Australians are losing interest in participating in the democratic process beyond their requirement to vote -- as demonstrated by the rapid decline in membership of political parties, especially by young people.

Lest there was any doubt on the Left that Australia has been experiencing a profound, rolling crisis of official politics, the re-eruption of debate around the Right’s sexist abuse of Julia Gillard, nominally the most powerful person in the country, should have settled the question. Except that it hasn’t.

Every day, human trafficking is occurring in communities around the world. Whether it is through sex trafficking, labor trafficking, organ trafficking, and forcing children to be “child soldiers,” this crime impacts approximately 27 million men, women, and children. This crime destroys families and causes trauma for the victims.

Julia Gillard is considering a last-ditch attempt to implement a new "regional solution" to slow the arrival of asylum seeker boats, as backbenchers warn the issue is "killing" Labor electorally and Tony Abbott puts it at the centre of his political attack.

Six more Christians were sentenced for practicing their faith last week, while Iran’s presidential election of a moderate politician was not expected to soften the regime’s persecution of religious minorities.

On June 1st, approximately 160 Christians were forced to flee their villages after they were attacked by Muslim extremists. The villages of Malipayon, Saban of Barnagay, Maybula and New Bunawan were attacked at about 9 a.m. that Saturday. An estimated 300 armed men fired more than five mortars in an attempt to cause harm to the unsuspecting residents of these communities.

Mention the word "swingers" and conversations adopt that hint of intrigue that often arises when talk turns to sex. Rumours about others' involvement are raised. An air of the unknown falls over the discussion - or perhaps one of them is keeping their secret. Swinging is cloaked in privacy because it goes against the widely accepted social understanding that married couples, or partners, should remain monogamous.

Exodus International under the leadership of Alan Chambers has been going off the rails for some time now. Many former homosexuals have been greatly concerned about the way the organisation has been heading under his rule. And now it is closing shop.

Australian religious organisations will continue using homosexual reorientation therapy, despite the closure of a leading US proponent, Exodus International, which has apologised for the "pain and hurt" it caused. The Reverend Ron Brookman, the Australian director of Living Waters Ministries and a member of Exodus Global, said the organisation had acknowledged damage caused by treating homosexuality as something that could be "cured".

Exodus International, a longtime leader in the Christian "gay conversion therapy" movement, is closing its doors, having concluded that trying to counsel people out of same-sex attractions doesn’t work and can do grave harm. The group’s president, Alan Chambers, issued a lengthy apology this week at the organization’s final conference. Most of Exodus’s affiliates had already left before Mr. Chambers’s announcement and are expected to keep doing conversion therapy. A new umbrella group is already in place, the Restored Hope Network, which its website says is “dedicated to restoring hope to those broken by sexual and relational sin, especially those impacted by homosexuality.”